"Just hush~!"
Even after we finished eating, Chansey seemed intent on following us.
Blue and I washed up the dishes since Brock cooked, and after he packed up all his cookware and we started to make our way through the grassy field and down the mountainous terrain, all our pokēmon with the exception of Umbreon and Ansem back in their balls for until we got to town, Chansey just… followed.
She seemed happy that she had gotten a free meal and had successfully managed to feed me and Blue one of her eggs. Waddling after, she moved to walk alongside Brock, poking at his legs with a carefree look on her face. She wasn't talking as much as she did before, instead following after us in silence, but her quietness did nothing to hide the sheer joy in her sparkling eyes.
Brock smiled down at her, amused by her behavior, though quite confused as to why she was following us. "Having fun?"
She beamed. "Chansey!"
I looked over my shoulder at the two. Brows furrowing, I tilted my head at them. It felt… strange having an endangered pokēmon following us, especially so cheerfully. I noticed her eyes would flicker towards Blue every now-and-then whenever the boy would scratch at the bandage on his cheek, before turning her attention to me.
That said, Chansey seemed glued to Brock's side. He didn't really seem to mind, either.
"I think she's worried about you two." Brock mused. "Blue's healed up a lot since the hospital visit, but he still has a few cuts. And you were just barely able to recover thanks to Nurse Joy's Chansey, El. Maybe she can sense you aren't at full health."
"Or maybe she can sense that El's a squirt and feels bad for her." Blue joked. "Probably thinks her eggs will help her grow!"
Whipping my head around, I sent the brunet a glare. "Hey! I'm working on it! Just you wait- one of these days I'm gonna be taller than you."
"You keep saying that, but I ain't seein' any progress!" Blue laced his hands behind his head, flashing me his signature smirk. "Keep dreaming. Maybe if you wish hard enough, it'll come true."
"Shut up!" I could feel my face burning, and I held my fists up as I darkened my glare. "It's not my fault I'm so small!"
From behind us, Brock spoke up. "I think you've actually gained a couple inches since we've first met, El. It's not much, but you're definitely a little taller now."
I stopped walking and whirled around to look at him. "Wait, seriously?"
He smiled and nodded. "Yeah! Come here."
Brock stepped forward and I hurried to stand in front of him. The boy held his hand up, and Chansey and Blue and the rest of our pokēmon watched with curiosity as he rested it flat against the top of my head and slowly brought it to his chest, measuring our height difference.
"Heh, see?" A grin spread across his lips. "You didn't even reach my shoulder before! Now you're nearly right next to it!"
Furrowing my brows, I pursed my lips in thought only to pout, slumping in defeat. "That means I only grew two inches, though…"
Blue snorted loudly, and when I whirled around to glare at him again he coughed into his fist, trying and failing to hide his laughter. "A-Ahem! Good job, kid." His lips were trembling as he attempted to mask his smirk. He gave me a thumbs up. "You grew two whole inches! What a feat! You'll get there one day. Surely. Pfft."
As much as I love him, sometimes I really can't stand him. "Ansem…"
"Eva!" The pokēmon atop my head barked and climbed higher up so he was on my skull, and forcibly keeping my head held upright I let him jump off and tackle the teen.
Blue yelped, stumbling sideways upon contact with the pokēmon, and Brock laughed as the boy fell onto his rear, Ansem dangling from his head and covering his face.
I clapped my hands with a large grin. "Good boy!"
Ansem barked, climbing atop Blue so he was sitting on his haunches in the boy's hair. The Eevee beamed at me. "Eva, vee! Eevoi!"
"You…" Blue scowled and reached up, grabbing Ansem by the scruff and plucking him off of his head. He sent Ansem a look, and then scrunched his nose at me. "You're so petty."
"Like you're not?"
"…Touché."
Shaking his head at us, Brock looked down at Chansey. "Can you believe this is what I deal with every day?"
She blinked at him. "Chansey?"
Standing up, Blue shifted to hold Ansem in his arms, and running his fingers through his fur, carefully petting the large Eevee, the boy made a face at Brock. "You're the one that decided to stick around, y'know. If you don't like it, you can leave anytime."
"Hey now; I never said that."
"Uh-huh. Anyways," Blue turned his attention to the pink and very round pokēmon sticking close to the former gym leader's side, "what're we gonna do with Chansey? She can't keep following us around like this. When we get to town, some trainers might attack her to try and catch her. And that's not even mentioning what Team Rocket would do if they saw her."
Brock brought a hand to his chin, furrowing his brows with a concerned frown. "That's a good point…"
Chansey looked befuddled by the sudden change in atmosphere, the lighthearted teasing having transitioned into something a little more serious. She tugged on Brock's pants again to get his attention, and he looked down at her.
"…Y'know, Chansey is normally a pokēmon that helps out in pokēcenters." He said.
"Yeah, and?" Blue wasn't following along. "What about it?"
"If I'm going to be a pokēmon doctor myself one day, I'll need a partner to help me through it." Brock squatted down in front of the bubbly pink pokēmon, offering her a warm smile. He held his hand out, and with his other he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pokēball. "Say, Chansey; I have something to ask you."
"Chanse…?" She was intrigued.
Slowly, Chansey lifted a hand up and rested it in the one he was holding out to her, and Brock gently curled his fingers around her stubby palm. "Will you do me the honor of traveling with me as one of my pokémon, Chansey? And help me learn to better heal those who are sick and hurt?"
Her blue eyes widened. Upon feeling the sincerity and earnestness of his words, she began to tear up. Chansey reached out to grasp his outstretched hand with both of hers now, leaning forward and closing her eyes in a heartfelt nod. "Chansey…"
"Really!?" Brock could hardly believe it. A smile so large it reached ear-to-ear spread across his face. "You mean it, Chansey!?"
She giggled at his excitement and nodded again, shaking his hand.
"Th-Then, if you don't mind…" He held the pokēball out, and Chansey pulled away to touch the button with her hand. In a matter of seconds she had been swallowed by red light, and near immediately the pokēball clicked and flashed green. Brock turned the ball around to face him, and with a happy face he clicked the button to release her. She was standing in front of him again, and he smiled at her gratefully. "Thank you, Chansey. Truly."
She just held her hands up and bounced on her feet. "Chansey!"
That's two pokēmon in one day.
Brock was incredible.
Chansey's empathic abilities were a lot stronger than the average pokēmon's, and they were well-known to quickly flee those with evil intentions. Having chosen Brock as a trainer, despite only knowing him for maybe two hours at best, just goes to show how kind-hearted he really is.
"I feel like I should name you…" He mused, tapping a finger to his chin. "Chansey pokēmon are said to bring happiness to those around them, so… Joyce? Merry? But you're also a healer… so… oh! How about Remedy?"
Chansey bounced on her feet and cheered.
Brock leaned down, grasping her hands excitedly. "Remedy, it is! Oh, I can't thank you enough for this! I'll make sure to feed you all the delicious food, and groom your fur, and keep you safe from any nasty egg poachers! I won't let Team Rocket lay a finger on you!"
"Well." Blue stood next to me, still holding Ansem close. He scratched behind the Pokémon's head. "This is certainly something."
I nodded in agreement.
Shifting to hold Ansem with one arm, he held a hand up to the side of his mouth and called out, "Yo, Brock! Are you gonna stand there geeking out over your new pokémon all day or can we hurry on to Lavender Town?"
"Huh? O-Oh, right!" Brock jolted and stood up, pocketing the pokēball. Remedy remained standing by his side, her smile never once falling as happiness radiated from her very being. Brock scratched his cheek sheepishly, his cheeks a little dark from embarrassment. "Sorry. I, uh, got kind of excited there. Let's go, you guys."
I shook my head at him, but instead of saying anything to scold him for wasting time I just gathered my courage and walked over, snatching his free hand.
I tried to ignore his surprised gaze as I turned to face the town that was in the slight distance before us, holding our hands up in an awkward show of childishness and pointing in the direction of town. "O-Onwards! Lavender Town awaits!"
This much… should be fine.
"And then… Celadon!"
They said I'm allowed to be selfish. They said I can be myself. I'm still not entirely sure how to be a child, despite literally being one, but I want to hold Brock's hand and walk with him and Blue and all our pokēmon down to town, so that's what I'm going to do.
And seeing as Brock is laughing instead of pulling his hand away, the boy squeezing his fingers around mine as we started to walk down the hill, Blue following along with a roll of his eyes, it was obvious that he didn't mind.
Everything was okay.
As we walked down the hill, Chansey bounded along with us, and at some point struck up a conversation with Umbreon and Ansem. I pulled out my pokēdex to check what levels and moves my two Vulpix had learned, and was stunned to find that they were both level twenty-eight.
I nearly choked on thin air.
When I asked Brock what level Susie was, he said she was only twenty-four. That meant it was the battles inside Kōga's gym that leveled up my pokémon so high, because this was ridiculous. Blue then spoke up, explaining how they had been jumped by some rather aggravated pokēmon in the area when they went to chase after me, which is why they arrived so late.
Machamp had apparently woken up and noticed by absence, and alerted his trainer to it- which caused them to discover my poorly written letter. If not for the wild pokēmon, they might have caught up to me before I was jumped by Team Rocket.
They were never that lucky, though.
When we finally arrived at the entrance to Lavender Town, I was stunned by just how… purple it was. Furthermore, everything looked so desolate and eerie. There weren't a lot of people, and there were even fewer pokēmon. All the house lights were on, but barely anyone was actually outside. It was still early afternoon.
Just what was going on?
As we looked around, a young man approached us, looking deeply concerned. "Are you three trainers?"
"Y-Yeah…?" It should be rather obvious, what with our pokēmon and backpacks.
I couldn't help but give him a strange look at the equally strange question. He looked relatively normal, what with his brown hair and grey jacket. I didn't find anything particularly suspicious about his face, and there weren't any signs he was wearing a wig. His eyes didn't look cold and his expression didn't seem… forced. I didn't see anything that could be a uniform poking out from beneath his sleeves and collar, either, and he wasn't wearing the signature boots.
Maybe he's not part of Team Rocket?
"Okay. Well… you guys should be careful." The young man glanced down at our pokēmon. "A lot of pokēmon have been disappearing lately, and… there's been a lot of talk about ghosts appearing in the Pokēmon Tower."
Brock frowned. "The Pokēmon Tower?"
Blue nudged his arm and pointed at a large purple tower to the far east of town. We could see it standing tall and high, hovering above the other buildings. It made me wonder exactly just how many rooms it had.
When I looked back at Blue, I saw his face had twisted into something serious and grim. Chansey looked unnerved by the negative energy. "That place. It's… It's basically a giant cemetery for pokēmon that passed away."
"Oh…" A chill went down my spine at that, but the dread only began to pool in my stomach when the young man spoke up again.
He hugged himself, folding his arms over his chest. "The ghosts that people keep saying are floating about in there- I… I think they're the spirits of the pokēmon that were kidnapped by Team Rocket and never seen again."
Memories came flooding to mind. Memories I wished I could forget.
That awful room deep into Hoenn headquarters, several floors below where the children were kept, that Mistress Augusta once showed me as punishment. There were so many pokēmon that had been skinned of their fur and experimented on, pokēmon that had been chained up and beaten, pokēmon that had parts of their body severed and sold to the highest bidder.
Pokēmon that had done nothing other than exist… and were punished for it.
"Eva…?" Ansem hopped out of Blue's hold and wandered over to me, pressing his forehead against my leg before standing on his hind paws and making biscuits against my knee. "Eva, vee! Eva!"
Swallowing thickly, I looked down to meet his crimson gaze, but not even my precious Ansem could get rid of the horror and dread and guilt I felt, knowing that what this young man said was most likely true. There was no way it wasn't. Team Rocket has killed dozens of pokēmon for money and just because they can. It's no surprise that they would have returned as spirits.
"El…" Brock reached out and rested a hand on my shoulder. "Hey. You okay?"
I just closed my eyes, inhaling shakily. My stomach tossed and turned, and it took everything I had to swallow down the bile and not throw up. Unable to bring myself to speak, I just gave them a small shake of the head.
Chansey waddled over to tug at my scarf. "Chansey…?"
Blue frowned. "Kid-"
Before he could finish speaking, a scream rang out. It was loud and piercing, and sounded like it belonged to a young woman.
A frightened young woman.
"Wh-What was that!?" The strange man jumped, his hands flying up in alarm as he stumbled back. "W-Was it a ghost!?"
No idea. "It… sounded like it came from the direction of the tower…"
"What are we waiting for then!?" Blue demanded. "Let's go!"
In order to make it over there quickly and not waste time, he pulled out his Arcanine and we all climbed on. Scooping Ansem up in my arms, Remedy and Umbreon were both called back into their pokēballs, and- together- we began to make our way through town, Blue leading the way as he's clearly been here before.
Arcanine had to be a little careful along the roads, but with the town being nearly devoid of people as they were all keeping to their homes we were able to reach the tower within five minutes, rather than the two hour long walk it would have taken normally to get from the town entrance to the tower itself.
When we finally arrived, we saw a woman sitting on the ground- her knees a little scraped. Beside her was an older woman, fussing over her and applying ointment to her injured knees.
Hearing Arcanine roar, they looked up; and the poor old woman looked like she was about to have a heart attack. "M-My goodness-!"
"He's friendly!" Blue quickly called, sliding off the side and dashing over to them. As Brock, Ansem, and I all jumped down, the old lady seemed to relax, realizing we were trainers and that Arcanine wasn't a wild pokēmon. Blue knelt beside the pair of strangers, furrowing his brows with a heavy frown. "Can you tell us what happened? Were you attacked?"
"Y-Yes…" The injured woman stammered, curling a hand close to her chest. "Or… well, actually, I'm not sure. I… I had just finished paying my respects to my… my dear Growlithe when… when-!" She hiccuped, bringing a hand up to her puffy, tear-stained face. "When I saw it!"
Holding Ansem in my arms, I stood beside Blue and tilted my head at her, making a face. She wasn't being very descriptive. Her words were incredibly unhelpful. "Saw what?"
"The pokēmon!"
Blue looked exasperated. "What pokēmon?"
"I-I think it was a Cubone!" She pointed at the tower entrance. "It barreled right into me and just… ran inside after knocking me down the stairs! I'm… not sure if it attacked me to get me out of the way, o-or if it was just in a hurry and knocked me down by accident…"
"That's horrible!" Brock exclaimed. He moved with incredible speed to kneel down next to her, snatching one of her hands up in his as he dabbed at her teary face with a random handkerchief he pulled out of his pants pocket. The boy looked absolutely smitten as he fussed over her. "You weren't injured, were you, beautiful lady!? I'm quite good with medicines, but if that isn't enough then I can certainly kiss your wound better for-"
A hand reached out and snatched his ear, and Brock was tugged back with a pained yelp, Blue giving him an annoyed glare. "Enough! Now's not the time for that!"
Um… ow?
"A-Are you okay?" I asked, looking up at the dejected Brock, a little disbelieving that this had happened again. When Misty was telling him off before, I thought she was being a bit mean, but he really did seem to flirt with every single pretty woman we met.
Letting out a small whimper as Blue released him, Brock rubbed his throbbing ear, slumped over and depressed. "Emotionally? No. Physically? My heart has been shattered into a million pieces…"
That's… a little dramatic. "Th-There, there."
I gave him an awkward pat on the arm.
Blue rolled his eyes at us and turned back to the woman in front of him. "Anyways… you had just gotten done paying respects to your Growlithe, right? And as you were walking out a Cubone knocked you down the stairs and ran inside the tower?"
The woman nodded slowly, and it was then she finally noticed the blood on his shirt and the bandage on his cheek. Her eyes drifted to the stitch on his lip, before flicking over to Brock- not staying on him very long as he was the cleanest and healthiest of us all- and finally landing on me. She saw the blood staining my very white sailor top, and could just barely make out the tear on my left sleeve beneath my scarf. My black eye was on full display.
A bit disturbed, the woman faced Blue. "Y-Yes… um, a-are you kids okay?"
"We're good." He stated bluntly. "And that was all we needed to know. We'll go in and check things out; see what's up with the Cubone and all that. You and the old lady can go home and get some rest." Glancing over his shoulder at us, Blue raised a brow. "That sound good with you guys?"
"Yeah…" Brock mumbled, sniffling sadly. "Sounds good."
"Uh, s-same." If Team Rocket is involved in any possible way, we need to put a stop to it. "Right, Ansem?"
The pokēmon barked.
I looked up at Blue. "We're good."
"Alrighty!" Blue reached into his pocket and called Arcanine back into his pokēball, only to soon call out Umbreon afterwards.
Brock took out Susie and Remedy, and I summoned the rest of my pokēmon- Basil, Belladonna, Ruby, and Sapphire making a small circle around me as we prepared to enter the tower.
Blue flashed us all a smirk, and the elderly woman and the pretty lady just stared, baffled by what they were seeing. "Let's go!"
Upon entering the building, we were greeted by a small lobby.
There was an alarming amount of people inside, considering just how few were seen out in the streets within the town itself. Some were sitting in purple recliners and couches, crying and leaning onto one another, while others were slumped over and sobbing silently. Some were muttering to themselves. A couple were pacing the room. There was a line at the receptionist area where an elderly woman was standing behind the desk, looking a little stressed with the influx of visitors.
I had no doubt that most of these people were here because Team Rocket stole their beloved pokēmon.
Near the staircase leading up to the second floor were several teenagers huddled together, looking quite frightened.
"Are you sure it wasn't a ghost?" One of them asked. Her hands were curled close to her chest, her grey eyes welled up with tears.
The second person looked frustrated, waving his hands about as he defended themselves. "It was a live Cubone! I'm telling you! I didn't imagine it!"
"But no one else was able to see what exactly the other ghosts were…"
"That's because they were dead! The Cubone was obviously alive!"
"Guys," The third person pleaded, looking quite exhausted by their arguing, "come on… Let's just head out. Team Rocket is probably lurking around here still. If we're not careful, they'll take our pokēmon, too- along with that Cubone!"
"I-I don't want to lose my precious Pikachu…" The girl whimpered. "Sparky's been with me for so long…"
"Oh, stop crying!" The first boy huffed. "They aren't gonna go near that scrawny ball of fur."
"Hey! Last time I checked, my Pikachu defeated your Fearow!"
Blue paid the three teens no mind as he marched his way forward, pushing through them with his hands in his pockets, practically shoulder-checking them as he forced his way to the staircase. "Outta of the way! Comin' through!"
"H-Hey-!"
"Ow!"
"Watch it!"
We stared in disbelief as he completely ignored the three teens he just shoved, Blue standing on the steps and gesturing with his chin for us to get moving. "El, Brock, hurry it up!"
Blue seriously had no manners. Actually, did he even realize he was being rude? I mean, it doesn't really surprise me, but at the same time I just never really realized how little he cared about other people. I couldn't imagine myself just shoving people out of the way and forcing my way through them. I usually tried to weave my way through crowds.
Now, if those people were Team Rocket… then that would be a completely different story.
Hrm.
Ah, well, Blue is Blue, and that's all that matters.
Brock shook his head and grabbed my hand, tugging me along and snapping me out of my thoughts. "Let's not keeping him waiting."
We followed Umbreon up the staircase, and Brock apologized with a sheepish smile to the offended teenagers standing nearby. They huffed and glared, but chose not to say anything when they saw Remedy, Basil, Belladonna, Ruby, and Sapphire behind us. With them out of their pokēballs, and Umbreon in the lead, Ansem in my arms, and Susie resting atop Brock's shoulders, they were more than a little intimidated.
Especially since they seemed to recognize Brock and Blue.
"Isn't that…?"
"I heard the Pewter City gym leader left to travel with some random little girl, but I thought it was just a rumor…"
"Wait, isn't that jerk Blue Oak?"
"No way!"
"M-Maybe we should leave them alone…"
A part of me felt bad for startling them, but it was fairly important we checked out what was going on with that Cubone the pretty lady mentioned. Pokēmon were said to have been disappearing around these parts. Cubone may very well be one of the next to vanish.
"How long are these stairs?" Blue scowled from up ahead. "It's a cemetery, not a lighthouse!"
"I mean, did you see how big the tower was?" Brock asked, raising a brow. "Besides, cemeteries are usually pretty big."
"Damn…"
"Language!"
"I'll swear if I wanna!"
Maybe Blue's rudeness comes from his confidence. He's always been a little rough and blunt, but the only time he was ever really rude to me was when we first met. Thinking about it, he probably just wanted to get a reaction out of me since I wasn't very emotional back then.
He's probably rude to everyone he meets, until he gets to know them a little better. It's not really because he's mean, but more because…
Because he likes to get a rise out of people?
Wouldn't that make Blue kind of mischievous, then? He loves picking fights with Brock, and we've gotten into arguments quite a few times. Though maybe they're not heavy enough to really be considered arguments. They don't frighten me. I… know they're not serious.
It's more like we're…
Bantering?
I dunno. Blue is complicated.
Aside from aspiring to grow taller than him, maybe I should try to gain his level of confidence, too. I want to be able to punch Rich, Velga, Mistress Augusta, and the big boss, Giovanni, in the face without hesitation or fear. I want to tell them off for what they did to me, and have done to all the other children and pokēmon they had kidnapped. I want to be able to do things without being terrified of the consequences.
I want to be able to march ahead and face things without looking back behind me.
Furrowing my brows in thought, I observed Blue for a moment, taking note of his walk, before pulling my hand away from Brock's and shifting Ansem so he wasn't being held with one arm anymore, and was instead on my shoulders like he usually preferred.
Then I shoved my hands into my pockets, awkwardly tensing my shoulders and trying to stand a bit straighter.
Think tall.
Half of his confidence has to come from his height, right?
Wait, my arms aren't quite…
I tried to relax my elbows, walking up the steps a little stiffly. With the way my left arm was both crooked and numb, it made me feel more silly than confident, and made it even harder to copy the boy's stance.
It took about five more minutes before I managed to feel like I got a good grasp on it, holding my chin up and mentally repeating to myself to keep walking tall, but I didn't get to keep walking like that very long before I heard a snort from beside me, Brock's chuckling startling me and making me look up at him with wide eyes.
Brock turned away quickly, coughing into his fist, and I felt my face start to burn red.
He knows.
Near immediately I yanked my hands out of my pockets and scowled, my cheeks as red as my scarf, and in my frustration I marched on ahead, moving past Blue and even Umbreon as we headed to the second floor of the tower.
"You good, kid?" Blue asked, but I ignored him, practically shrinking down to hide in my scarf, not wanting my red face to be seen. He waved a hand in the air. "Uh, hello~? Earth to El?"
"Aw, just leave her." Brock laughed. "She's embarrassed."
Blue sent him a baffled look. "About what?"
He snickered again. "Nope. Not gonna tell."
"...Okay, keep your secrets. Yeesh."
As much as I like being in the outside world, sometimes I want to crawl into a hole. I wanted to burrow into the earth and never come out.
Ugh, this was the worst.
As we finally neared the top of the staircase, the air around us suddenly grew colder. A dark purple mist could be seen wafting into the area, and upon seeing me come to a halt my pokēmon did too, concern writing across their features as they sensed my unease. My fingers twitched. Brock and Blue stopped behind me.
A hand curled around my left arm, but I saw it more than I felt it. "Kid, you feel it too?"
"...Something's wrong."
Brock looked at the room before us, and he gave Susie some comforting scritches to keep her calm. "That's probably the ghosts. Problem is, if the ghosts are pokēmon, we might not be able to see them. They don't like to let themselves be seen if they can help it."
"There might be Gengars nearby." Blue warned, glancing around with narrowed eyes. "If you feel a sudden chill, shout for your pokēmon. And keep an eye on your shadow. They can be either malevolent monsters or mischievous pokēmon. It really just depends on the Gengar."
"I-I know." Team Rocket likes ghost-pokēmon. Ghost, dark, poison… they loved any-and-all pokēmon that can cause grievous harm. I looked around the room nervously, a little hesitant to step further in. "Haunter, too."
If they lick you with the intent to curse, your life force will be continuously drained away until death unless you're able to hunt down the specific Haunter that cursed you and beat it in battle, or unless you manage to find and obtain a blessing from a fairy-type pokēmon. For all the gentle pokēmon out there, there were just as many deadly ones.
Thankfully, we have a Chansey in our party- who is capable of using fairy-type moves. Though it may leave us a little dazed and confused afterwards, her Sweet Kiss should be enough to free us of any curse.
Blue stepped into the room.
Brock and I followed after, and behind us followed Basil, Belladonna, Ruby, and Sapphire- all of whom looked worried. We eyed our shadows, searching for a pair of gleaming red eyes, and upon finding none we observed our surroundings.
All around us were gravestones.
They were decorated quite lovingly. Some had bouquets, others incense. A few even had some snacks resting beside them. As we stayed close to each other, walking around the area in search of the Cubone, I couldn't ignore the way my stomach continued to twist as I observed the graves.
This entire tower… really was a cemetery.
I'm sure a lot of these graves were here before Team Rocket started abducting pokēmon, and yet… I wonder just how many of them were because of them.
There must be so many.
Pokēmon that never got to return to their trainers, pokēmon that were stolen away from the wild without a say in the matter; just how many have died?
In the headquarters alone, there had been far too many to count.
I don't want to think about it.
Just how many graves are there?
Did someone ever build me a grave? Was there anyone within my nightmares that knew me and survived the chaos? Were they still alive? Did anyone ever mourn me?
Probably not. I'm not even sure if my supposed sister is alive.
"Are these their names?" I ended up speaking aloud, pausing to stop by some of the gravestones in a pitiful attempt to distract myself. Seeing their names only reminded me I had yet to fully remember my own. "Abel the Abra. Jax the Jinx. Fluffles the… Mankey…?"
Blue and Brock came to a halt. Whipping his head around, Blue sent me a baffled stare. "...Fluffles?"
Brock was amused. "Someone had named their Mankey Fluffles?"
I nodded, pointing at the tombstone. It really was kind of silly. I can't blame them for it, though. Mankey pokēmon had some really fluffy looking fur. "Yeah. Says right there."
The boys walked over to read it, and Blue let out a small snort. "Not the name I would've chosen for it, but good on them. I'm sure the Mankey liked it."
"Have you ever named any of your pokēmon?" I looked up at him curiously, genuinely wondering if he gave any a nickname.
Blue shrugged. "Eh. Umbreon. I gave her one after she evolved. I don't have a habit of calling her it around other people, though."
"Why's that?"
He faltered, then looked up at the ceiling, his cheeks turning uncharacteristically pink as he folded his arms over his chest. He was having a hard time meeting my stare. "I just… don't, okay?"
Blue's words only confused me more.
After a moment of silence, I began to fiddle with my fingers, wondering if this was a topic I shouldn't have brought up. Unfortunately, the curiosity was strong, and I really wanted to know what he named her. "Can… Can I ask what it is?"
Blue didn't respond right away.
He stood there, as if pondering whether or not he should tell me, and Brock watched him from behind me, curiosity written across his features. Blue saw this and scowled, his red cheeks turning a few shades darker, and he turned to look down at the Umbreon herself.
Seeing his partner pokēmon brush against his legs, his expression softened and an affectionate smirk crossed his lips, the boy most likely thinking of a fond memory. "It's-"
"Cuuuuuuuuu~!"
Blue's words were cut off by an ear-piercing shriek, and not wasting even a second the three of us took off, running as fast as we could in the direction it came from and heading up the next flight of stairs.
Reaching the third floor, we were greeted by a new row of gravestones.
I looked around frantically, ignoring Ansem's claws as they dug into my shoulder from mild fear. Bold as he was, even he was creeped out by the eerie atmosphere. "Wh-Where did it-"
A chill ran down my spine. My body froze.
I could no longer speak.
When I glanced down at my shadow, there weren't any red eyes, but when I looked back up I saw that the purple mist in the room had thickened considerably. An angered roar resounded within the third floor cemetery, and seeing we were all frozen in place Remedy pushed her way through us and our pokēmon and ran forward.
Standing in front of us protectively, she threw her arms out with a determined cry.
A large, glittering, and transparent screen formed around us, and we all watched in shock as the creature that had emitted the screech apparently tried to attack, as we saw something lash out at the protective barrier. It didn't look like claws, but more like something had been thrown and bounced off of it- twice.
And yet, despite doing all that, the ghost pokēmon didn't bother to reveal its form to us.
Ansem barked loudly, and Basil and Belladonna shot out their vines- trying to hit the ghost and failing as it was invisible and most certainly dodging their attacks. Sapphire opened her mouth and blew out an icy wind, but aside from making the room even colder it really didn't do anything.
"Umbreon!" Blue ordered, throwing an arm out, and the pokēmon nodded, letting out a small growl and stepping forward, but before she could attack, having opened her mouth to prepare what I was guessing was most likely a Shadow Ball, the unknown pokēmon cried out again.
"Cuuuu~!"
It sounded a lot closer than earlier…
"Cubone!" We all turned to see the small skull-wearing pokēmon stumble and hurry over to us, a bone held in its claws. It ran around the gravestones to stop in front of Remedy, looking up in the general direction of the attacking ghost with teary eyes. "Cuuuuu~ booooone!"
Oh. "It… knows the ghost…"
Brock and Blue were alarmed by my words. "It knows it!?"
"Are you serious!?"
It was very clearly talking to it. I might be over analyzing things, but the small pokēmon seemed almost desperate as it cried out, clutching its bone close and looking up in the general direction of the invisible ghost. "Cubone! Cu!"
"Graoooohhhhh…."
"Cubone!"
"Marooooo! Groah…"
The wild pokēmon took a small step forward, only to have its teary eyes widen at the invisible ghost's words. It gripped the bone it was holding tightly, trying to stand its ground, opening its mouth to speak one more time, before losing its courage and lowering its head dejectedly. "C-Cuuu…"
Glancing at us from over its shoulder, Cubone turned back to the general direction of the ghost, before letting out a defeated sigh and trudging its way back down the stairs where it had originally come.
"Cu…bone…"
No.
No, something was wrong here.
The Cubone came here to make contact with that ghost. It knew it. Were they friends? Were they family? Cubone…
Isn't it said that they wore the skull of their deceased mother?
If that's the case, then that ghost might just be…
Flashes of my nightmares coming to mind, of the pain and fear and grief, of the people I didn't quite know but was certain of their death, of their relation to me, my emotions welled up faster than I could stop them, and I found myself chasing after the pokēmon, about to leap down the stairs with an outstretched hand. "Cubone, wait-!"
No sooner had I reached the first step did a breeze of chilling cold wash over me.
The shadow beneath my feet moved. It grew. A large, gleaming white smile shone within it. Red eyes stared menacingly. A pair of dark purple claws reached out from behind me. Something muscled and wet ran along the skin of my cheek.
Brock and Blur screamed. "El!"
The world was enveloped in black.
I fell.
My body was paralyzed from head-to-toe.
The sensation of being pulled down through the endless black was… familiar to me. It didn't necessarily feel like falling, but it didn't feel like floating either. It was more like I was drifting, snatched by the hands of the Haunter and Gengar that grabbed me. And it was cold.
So terribly cold.
"A-Ans…" My voice wouldn't come out. I couldn't even hear my partner pokémon bark. I'm not sure if he was barking. I can't feel him on my shoulders.
Was he left behind? Is he with Brock and Blue?
Gods, it's so dark…
So… empty.
It was just like back then.
Cold and dark and… scary.
The hands dragged me down.
Down, down, down.
Into the depths. Deeper into the darkness.
"El!"
There was no way out.
Red and blue and green and black.
Flashes of monsters came to mind; monsters that caused destruction, monsters that were turned to stone. Monsters that ended the destruction, and monsters that stared down menacingly.
A hand resting limp in my own, and a voice so pained and weak as it fought against the grips of death. "El…ea…nora…"
Fear.
Red and black and gold.
The monster was furious. Its long black arms coiled around its slender form, blood red claws hanging from the tips, giving off the illusion of deadly wings. It could have killed us.
It thought about killing us.
It wanted to kill us.
It was going to kill us.
Green and blue.
A creature much smaller than it hovered protectively before us. "Bi!"
Red eyes narrowed inquisitively.
"Bi~!"
The black beast pondered the smaller creature's words. But before anything else could be said or done, the call of death had come to claim the woman named Maia and myself… and we died right before their eyes.
Red and blue.
The last thing I could remember was feeling a warmth.
A warmth, and then suddenly… the darkness faded.
The visions were gone.
Before I could even begin to process what I just recalled, the tower lobby appeared beneath me. People pointed and screamed.
The Haunter and Gengar cackled, and the next thing I knew I was falling for real.
Unable to try and brace myself for the landing due to the paralysis, I ended up hitting the ground hard, and for a moment the world went dark.
When I was able to open my eyes again, I was laying on my back, someone I didn't know holding me in their arms and shouting for help. I couldn't move. My body felt like it was burning. I couldn't speak. Everything hurt.
"El!"
"Evaaaa!"
"El, where are you!?"
Damn it. I can't… move. My fingers won't even twitch. My head really hurts. I wanted to call out to Blue and Brock, but it felt like my mouth was full of cotton.
"Oh, shit!"
Hearing footsteps, the two boys soon appeared in my vision. The person holding me looked up at them in alarm. "I-Is this girl your friend!?"
"Her name's El!" Brock exclaimed, panicking as he knelt down beside me. "She was grabbed by some ghost pokēmon when we reached the third floor!"
"What!?" The person was horrified. "Was she cursed!?"
"Chansey!" Remedy pushed her way forward, and Brock and Blue moved out of the way for her. Ansem was barking loudly, held in Blue's arms, and I realized he really had been left behind when I was grabbed. Remedy held a hand out to my forehead, frowning deeply. "Chanse…"
She huffed.
Leaning down, Remedy pressed her lips to my forehead. "Chanse~y!"
A wave of warm energy washed over me, counteracting the paralysis, and I blinked groggily as the confusion settled in. Twitching my fingers, I groaned and moved to rest a hand against my aching head, but Remedy was already emitting a Healing Pulse.
The worst of my pain ebbed away, and Brock reached over to take me from the stranger, holding me to his chest instead. "I've got you, El. It's okay now. Just breathe."
I feel so dizzy…
There's something… important I remembered…
Think.
I can't…
My head feels so muddled.
Where are we again?
Somewhere awful.
"I'll carry you, so let's go find that Cubone." The muscular teen hoisted me up into his arms, and thanking the stranger for helping me, Brock carried me outside, Blue and my pokémon glancing at me every now and then to make sure I was really alright. Brock gave his Chansey a small smile as we reached the steps outside. "Thank you, Remedy."
She just beamed up at him, happy to have been able to help. "Chansey!"
"Hey, look!" Blue came to a halt, holding an arm out in front of Brock to stop him from walking any further, and pointing with his other hand at the Cubone in the distance. "Over there!"
The pokēmon was wailing loudly, crying as loud as it possibly could, while it ran through the streets. Brock and Blue hurriedly took after it.
We chased Cubone all the way to the other end of town, but just as we turned the corner, about to catch up to it, its wails were suddenly cut off.
A black-and-white pokēball appeared, snatching it up without warning, and Brock and Blue staggered to a halt, gasping.
Just barely hidden from view, we watched as a pair of heels clacked against the ground, a slender white gloved hand reaching down to pick it up. The pokēball was lifted and pressed to a pair of smirking, purple-painted lips.
Even in my confusion, I was able to recognize the person.
The woman that had just abducted the Cubone.
Seeing her in my current state made me choke up, fear washing over me like a tidal wave, encasing me in its icy grip. My fingers clutched weakly at Brock's jacket, and the boy held me close, muttering quietly for me not to make a sound.
If not for him, I would have believed I was back in the Hoenn headquarters- about to be beaten within an inch of my life again.
I had to tighten my jaw to keep quiet, gritting my teeth together as I fought back the tears, watching in silence as Velga turned to glance over her shoulder at her partner-in-crime. "Well, well, well; wasn't that easy."
"Went better than our last expedition, that's for sure." Richard walked up to stand beside her, crossing his arms over his chest. His expression was dark, the man appearing much more serious than usual. His fingers dug into his arms, anger writing across his features. "Those damn brats… I can't believe she got away from me again!"
"Oh, stop your whining." Velga rolled her eyes at him and stretched her arms above her head, holding the pokēball high in the air. "You should've expected it; I told you that little bitch was no good. She's been fooling you from the start."
I was trembling against my will. My face was half-buried in Brock's shoulder. My lungs were struggling to let me breathe properly.
After having been so shaken from the encounter with the ghosts and left with a heavy confusion from Remedy's Sweet Kiss, I was not at all prepared to face Rich and Velga so soon. Blue himself looked like he was about to fly into a rage. Basil and Belladonna had to wrap their vines around his waist and arms to keep him from running and lashing out at the two grown ups with his pokēmon.
If Brock wasn't currently preoccupied with holding me and keeping me from freaking out, he probably would have grabbed onto Blue himself.
"Shut the fuck up, Velga." Richard hissed. The woman yelped when he shot a hand out and snatched her by the front of her black vest, pulling her to him and forcing her to stand on her toes as he glared down at her. "Grunt is mine. And I will take her back to Team Rocket with me- if it's the last thing I do!"
The pink-haired villainess curled back her lips and reeled her hand back, smacking her partner as hard as she could in the face.
Despite the strength of the blow, Richard did not release her. His golden glare just intensified.
"Get your paws off me, you bastard!" She snapped. "I don't give a shit how you feel about her; the fact that she's a traitor remains! Try all you want, she is never coming back to Team Rocket!"
"Shut up!" He violently threw her onto the ground. Velga yelped as she crashed down, skinning her legs, and she glared up at him with acidic green eyes. The man threw his arm out to the side, shouting, "Don't forget; I'm only here with you due to the boss' orders! You can search for more pokēmon here if you want, but if Grunt shows up I am taking her back! She's just as much a priority!"
"You…" Her fingers curled into fists, and Velga's shoulders began to shake. She looked furious. Her voice was so loud the entire neighborhood could probably hear her. "What is with all you people!? She's just a weed! A brat! She's not even the one who blew up Viridian Headquarters; it was that legendary pokēmon the boss had created!"
Pushing herself up onto her heels, Velga stumbled and caught herself, glaring at Rich with all her might.
Her hands flew as she yelled. "You, the grunts, even the boss! She's just a kid! A good for nothing brat that got away! Even if you take her back, she isn't going to listen! The Mistress will just beat her down until she dies!"
"The Mistress won't be going anywhere near her!" He growled. "I'm going to be locking her up, Velga. I'm going to chain her, and remind her that without my help she'd have been nothing. Everything she is, is because I made her that way. Grunt is mine. The Mistress will no longer be going anywhere near her!"
"As if Mistress Augusta would just let you keep that brat." Velga laughed. She curled her fingers around her lips, flashing the man a sinister smirk. "She'd be more likely to drown her."
"She doesn't get a say in it." Richard stated coldly, and the woman blinked when he marched past her, turning to see him stopping outside the town exit. Grabbing at his belt, he pulled out a pokēball and summoned a large Haunter. "The boss already gave me permission- and her a direct order."
"…What?" Velga was stunned.
Richard climbed onto the Haunter's back, and sent her a dark look, his golden eyes burning with a quiet rage. "Grunt is mine. And if I can take her back, I can do with her as I please. I will chain and teach her, and Giovanni will use her talents for our cause. She'll become everything she was meant to be."
"Ha…" A disbelieving laugh left her lips, and Velga began to cackle. "You're more twisted than I thought. What exactly are you going to be "teaching" her?"
Richard eyed her as she summoned an Aerodactyl to climb onto. "The boss wanted to make her an assassin, so… I'll teach her everything she'll need to know." Haunter began to rise in the air, and the villainous Richard lowered his voice. "She's going to be fourteen, right? It's about time she realizes how the world works."
"Huh… well, aren't you a sick man? Not my problem, though. Let's just hurry and take this poor little Cubone back to the hideout in Celadon City. I'm sure that the skull on its head will face a hefty price… not to mention its own skull."
"Wasn't there that one client that wanted to try some unique pokēmon meat? We can sell the remains to that bastard and he can cook 'em up for his dinner."
"Ha! You know, sometimes you aren't so dumb."
With that they took off… and Basil and Belladonna finally released Blue.
He stumbled forward, glaring with enraged, disbelieving eyes as the two Team Rocket members flew away. Blue was so mad he could barely speak.
Brock was holding onto me tightly. He was shaking. The boy knelt down and set me onto my feet. I didn't let go of him. "El…"
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head.
Brock's hands were gripping the fabric on my back, and I knew right away he was upset. What Richard and Velga said; it angered Brock and Blue as much as it made me scared. Fear had permeated my being, and it was taking all I had to not start crying and breaking down.
My confusion somehow made what I had just heard and seen worse. Everything was welling up, mixing together with my fear and disgust, leaving me to feel incredibly nauseous. It was horrible.
I had to remind myself I wasn't in the Hoenn headquarters anymore, that I was in Kanto, and that Rich and Velga could not hurt me so long as I stayed out of their reach.
I had to remind myself I was with Blue and Brock, and that with them I was safe.
That with them, I was protected.
Grinding my teeth together, I grabbed at Brock's shirt and shook my head fervently. "N-No… no. No…"
Brock's grip loosened. "El…"
"No!"
I'm not there. I am here.
"No, no, no, no….! No!"
"Chansey…?" Remedy called out quietly, and I hiccuped, looking at her from over Brock's shoulder. Her blue eyes were gazing at me sadly. "Chansey…"
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and held her hands over her stomach. A small light began to form, and then, to all of our surprise, a large egg appeared in her belly pocket. Remedy concentrated again, and with her powers Soft-Boiled it.
Cradling it carefully, she waddled over and held it out to me with a sad smile. "Chansey?"
Brock and Blue were silent, and all our pokēmon just watched. Still trembling, I hesitated a moment before releasing Brock, reaching out and taking the large egg she was offering to me.
It was soft.
Warm.
I stared down at it.
Not really knowing what else to do, I went ahead and took a bite out of it.
Chansey eggs were quite large- larger than normal eggs; it was honestly about a foot tall in length and half of that in width. But, even though it was merely Soft-Boiled and had no extra ingredients, it tasted as delicious as ever.
It tasted so delicious, in fact, that for some reason I could no longer hold back the tears, and as I chewed and swallowed and took another bite, I began to silently cry, trying my damndest not to choke as I devoured the precious and incredibly nutritious egg.
Everything inside my chest hurt.
It could barely breathe.
But I ate.
I took bite after bite after bite, and I felt Brock silently rub my back as I did so. Remedy sang quietly- not loud enough to put anyone to sleep, but enough to wear me out and make me sleepy, the pokēmon doing her best to soothe me and rid me of the negative emotions that were overwhelming me.
Halfway through the egg, I hiccuped and choked, and Blue ruffled his hair with a frustrated sigh. Ansem rubbed against my legs, and Umbreon tried to comfort little Ruby and Sapphire who were panicking, alarmed by my emotions, while Basil and Belladonna sat huddled against each other, watching sadly.
"I can't believe they actually said that." Blue grimaced, deeply disturbed by what just transpired. "They're seriously messed up in the head. That Richard guy especially…"
Brock nodded in agreement. "We can't let them take El."
"We gotta get that Cubone back, too." Blue said, his voice grim. He rested a hand on his hip, looking down at me. "You gonna be okay, squirt?"
A sniffle and a weak nod was my answer as I shoved the rest of the egg into my mouth, my cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk's as the tears continued to fall and stain my cheeks. Rather than making fun of me for once, Blue just stared at me with an unreadable expression on his face.
Letting out another sigh, he walked over and tousled my short hair. "You can catch a nap on Arcanine while we make our way to Celadon. It's gonna take an hour or two to get there on his back, anyway."
I didn't protest.
I had truly thought I would be fine the next time I met Rich and Velga, but evidently that was not the case. Even though I know that it was probably due to my confusion, listening to them talk made me very much not okay- and I couldn't help but feel a little pathetic because of it.
Hearing Richard's plans for me… disturbed me on a level I couldn't quite describe or even fully comprehend.
He was just evil.
"Chansey?" Feeling Remedy rub her fluffy hands against my tear-stained cheeks, I blinked at her touch and looked up, surprised by the continual kindness she was showing me.
It reminded me of the other Chansey we encountered in the Pokēcenters, and how they always took care of me, too.
Remedy stepped closer to me and leaned in, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. "Chansey…"
As upset as I still was, there was no denying her egg had done wonders to make me feel a little better. And as she began to sing, her voice quiet enough that only I could hear, I felt the fear and disgust fade away.
Eyes being lulled shut from her lullaby, my shoulders and my body relaxed, and before I knew it…
I had already fallen asleep, slumped against her large round form.
"Eleano~ra~!
Staaaaaaaaaaay~!"
I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you all think in the comments, and have a wonderful day/night wherever you are! Stay safe! 💕